In recent years, display devices have been widely used which are thin, lightweight, and low in electric power consumption, and are typified by liquid crystal display devices. Such display devices are particularly provided to, for example, a mobile phone, a smart phone, a laptop personal computer, or the like. Further, electronic paper, which is a thinner display device, is expected to be rapidly developed and widespread in the future. Under such circumstances, a reduction in electric power consumption in various kinds of display devices is a common object at present.
Patent Literature 1 discloses a method for driving a display device in which method low electric power consumption is realized by providing a pause period during which no scanning signal lines are scanned. FIG. 16 is a timing diagram showing a vertical sync signal, an operating state, and a waveform of a power supply current of the display device described in Patent Literature 1. Note that in Patent Literature 1, a single scanning period and a single pause period are set to a single frame, whereas in FIG. 16, a scanning period is set to one of two consecutive frames, and a pause period is set to the other of the two consecutive frames.
As shown in FIG. 16, the display device is configured such that, with respect to two consecutive frames, for example, a frame between t16—1 and t16—2 and a frame between t16—2 and t16—3, the former frame is set as a scanning period during which the display device is in a ‘scanning’ operating state, whereas the latter frame is set as a pause period during which the display device is in a ‘pause’ operating state. That is, the frame between t16—1 and t16—2 is set as a scanning frame, and the frame between t16—2 and t16—3 is set as a pause frame. Likewise, the frame between t16—3 and t16—4 is set as a scanning frame, and the frame between t16—4 and t16—5 is set as a pause frame.
In the display device described in Patent Literature 1, provision of these pause frames causes a reduction in value I161 of an average consumed electric current relative to a ground potential GND. As described above, a single pause period is set to a single frame. In the pause frame, generation of a stationary electric current (self-consumed electric current), which is consumed by drive circuits for driving scanning lines and signal lines of the display panel, a power supply circuit for supplying electric power to the drive circuits, and the like, is stopped. The period during which the generation of the stationary electric current is stopped, i.e., a pause period, corresponds to a single frame and is long enough to reduce the value I162 of the self-consumed electric current. The reduction in value I162 of the self-consumed electric current in the pause frame allows reducing the electric power consumption of the display device.